Butterfly
by Kitwarrior24
Summary: Stanley Pines has just re-opened the portal, bringing his twin back to his own dimension. But, Stanford doesn't come back alone, bringing a whole new mystery along with him. Alternative Universe. Begins at where "Not What He Seems" left off. Rated T for eventual M/M.
1. Out of the Portal

**Hey guys, Kit here. It has been a while, so for that I am sorry. Recently, I have really gotten into Gravity Falls, and I am really excited, as well as sad, about the season finale in 2016. So in preparation for that, I have written this.**

 **This is set in an alternative universe, where Ford doesn't age while he is in the portal. The story starts off right where "Not What He Seems" ends. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls, that belongs to Alex Hirsch. I only own the plot and the original character. The cover art was drawn by my little sister.**

Dipper stood next to Soos, gaping at the wreckage of the portal in front of him. Stan was staring into the face of a brown haired man who appeared to be in his early-thirties. The man was wearing all black, the scarf that he had recently removed from his face flapped behind him, as if blown by some unseen wind.

"You..you look the same!" Stan blurted out, breaking the silence in the underground cavern. "Like you haven't aged since that day thirty years ago." The other man laughed, sounding forced.

"Thats what happens when you mess with inter-dimensional time travel Stanley." At this, Mabel spoke up,

"You're name is Stanley? Grunkle Stan, you said your name was Stanford!" The mysterious man, the author of the journals, looked angry.

"You used my name?! What else of mine did you take?"

"Just the shack Ford! I needed a place to stay while I tried to fix the portal!" He stared at the younger man, Ford, in front of him. Ford sighed,

"You shouldn't have even re-opened the portal!" Ford opened the journal, Journal One, that he had picked up when he first arrived. Pulling out a feather ended pen, he started writing something down in the margin of one of the pages. "Do you know what would have happened if the portal had fallen into the wrong hands? If Bi-" It was at this point he noticed Dipper, Mabel and Soos. Mabel decided to speak up again at this point.

"He's your bother? Grunkle Stan, why didn't you tell us that you have a twin?" Stan looked at Mabel before focusing his attention back on Ford.

"What were you going to say Ford?" Ford looked shocked that Stan was ignoring the girl.

"That doesn't matter Stanley! Who are these kids?" Stan sighed,

"This is Mabel," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "And that is Dipper." He pointed at Dipper. "They're Shermy's grandkids." Ford nodded slowly, turning back to to the now destroyed portal.

"Nice to meet you." He mumbled, looking around at the rubble. A moment later he turned back around, seeming to be in a better mood. "My name is Stanford Pines."

oO0Oo

Mabel sat at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cheerios. Dipper came into the room a couple minutes later, yawning.

"Morning Mabel. I had the craziest dream last night." Mabel laughed,

"Wow bro, me too! Grunkle Stan had some sort of crazy twin brother!" Dipper turned around from where he was looking for milk in the refrigerator,

"What? But, that...thats not possible." Mabel laughed, eating another spoonful of cereal.

"I know?! Like Grunkle Stan wouldn't have told us if he had a twin brother."

"No, Mabel, thats not what I meant." He took a seat at the table across from her, "I mean that I had the same dream!" The twins locked eyes,

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Mabel asked. Stan walked into the room, scratching at his back. Dipper and Mabel stared at him,

"What?" he asked, going to over where Dipper had left the fridge open. "Did you kids need something?"

"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked,"Did you happen to have a dream about your crazy twin coming out of a portal from another dimension?" Stan turned around,

"What are you kids talking about? Dream?" He knelt down in front of Mabel. "You know that wasn't a dream, right sweetie?" Mabel looked betrayed,

"You mean you really do have a twin that you never told us about?"Stan sighed, standing back up and taking a seat at the table next to Dipper.

"Listen kids." He sighed, "Do you remember how I told you to trust me yesterday?" The twins looked at each other, before turning back to him and nodding. "Well, I'm going to need you to do that for a little bit longer. Okay?' He looked down at the table in front of him, "Then, I promise that I will tell you everything."

"Okay Grunkle Stan," Mabel said after a moment, "as long as you actually will tell us everything this time." Stan nodded, putting both hands on the table in front of him so that the kids could see that he wasn't crossing his hands behind his back ,

"I promise." Dipper didn't look 100% convinced, but he nodded anyway.

"By the way Grunkle Stan," Dipper asked, "Where is your brother now?" Stan looked out the door, then shrugged,

"I dunno. Last I saw, he was in that room that you kids found. Probably still there." Mabel jumped up excitedly,

"Come on bro! Lets go find Great Uncle Stanford!" With that, she grabbed Dipper's arm and ran out of the room.

"Be careful kids," Stan yelled out of the room after them. "Ford wouldn't hurt his own family," he muttered to himself. He froze, then jumped up, "What am I saying! Of course he would." He ran out of the kitchen after them, "Kids! Wait for me!" Stan caught up to them on the landing outside of the hidden room. The door was open and the twins stood in the doorway, frozen, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Stan peered into the room, and froze as well.

Stanford, his older brother, was sitting on the couch in the room, and he was … crying? As surprising as this was, the most surprising thing was the person sitting next to him.

"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel whispered, "Who is that?" Stan shook his head,

"I don't know sweetie." Mabel took a step forward, the board under her foot creaking as she did so. Ford didn't move, his head still buried in his hands and shoulders shaking as he sobbed. The person sitting next to him, however, glanced up at the sudden noise. This allowed the trio of Pines to get a better look at her. Only one of her eyes was visible, with her brown streaked blond hair covering the other. Her visible dark green eye was wide, with tear tracks running down her cheek. She swiped a hand across her face, before standing up.

"Umm...Hi?" Mabel said, looking confused at the new girl in front of her. The younger girl looked down at the ground, mumbling something under her breath. Mabel leaned in closer, "What was that?" Stan stepped forward to stand next to Mabel. The girl turned around, tapping Ford on the knee. He glanced up, his eyes red and puffy. She whispered something in his ear, and he rubbed the tear lines off his face as he picked his glasses up off of the couch beside him. Putting them on, he stood up and took a deep breath before facing his family. The little girl had taken refugee behind his leg, with only her dark green eye peeking out.

"Stanley?" Ford asked, his voice sounding rough. "What are you doing here?" Stan still looked shocked that they had found Ford crying, but he shook it off, taking another step towards his twin brother.

"Stanford, are you okay?" Stan asked, ignoring the question that Ford had asked him. Ford looked shocked for a moment, before his face went blank. A moment later he shook his head,

"Yes of course. I'm fine." He looked down at the little girl hiding his leg. "What are you doing back there?" The girl muttered something that only Ford could hear, and he sighed. He dropped down to his knees, pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her small arms around him as she began to cry. He stood up, keeping his arms around her.

"Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked, coming to stand directly next to him. Ford looked down at him, tightening his arms ever so slightly on the little girl in his arms.

"Yes Dipper?" He asked.

"Who is that?"Ford looked at him, before sighing.

"I hoped that I wouldn't have to tell you all this so soon. I hoped that I would be able to keep you safe from the truth for a while longer." He sat back down on the couch, moving the girl to be sitting on his lap and patted the cushions on either side of him. Dipper sat down on his right and Mabel flopped down on the left. The little girl buried her head deeper into Ford's shoulder and he took the butterfly headband off, sticking it in his pocket, and began to stroke her hair in a calming manner. He opened his mouth, about to begin his tale, when there was suddenly a loud crash on the first floor of the Shack. They all jumped up from the couch, running out of the room, following Stan. Stan burst into the living room, freezing as he saw the figure seated in the arm chair in front of the television. The window behind the chair was broken, obviously the way the figure had broken into the house. The rest of the Pines came into the room after him.

"Bill?!" Ford asked, shocked. The figure in the armchair looked up, grinning.

"Hiya Sixer!"

 **Well, I hope you liked the first chapter of this story. If it hadn't been for my little sister bugging me several times a day, this would not be out before the new year. More information will be given about the little girl in the next chapter, but if you want a picture, message me and I can send you a link. Hopefully I will update this story more frequently than any of my others. Let me know what you think is going to happen in the Gravity Falls finale! Ciao for now!**


	2. Something Strange

**Hey guys, Kit here. It has been almost two months since I posted this story, so sorry about that. I have been reminded about this story almost everyday by my little sister. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **R** **eviews:**

 **H8ONP: Thank you so much for your review. I sent you a reply via PM. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **Guest: Hey sis, glad you like the story. I added some Mabel centered parts to this chapter for you, and there will be some major Bill parts in the next chapter. Thanks so much for drawing the cover image for me and enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls and the cover image belongs to my little sister.**

 _The rest of the Pines came into the room after him._

" _Bill?!" Ford asked in shocked. The figure in the armchair looked up, grinning._

" _Hiya Sixer!"_

"Bill!" Dipper yelled, "How did you get in here?" Bill looked at him, then glanced up at the window and then back at Dipper.

"How do you think Pine Tree?" He replied, sarcastically. It was at this moment that the occupants of the room realized that Bill wasn't as geometrically shaped as usual.

"Woah!" Mabel exclaimed, "You look like an actual person now!" Bill looked offended for a moment before laughing.

"From you Shooting Star, thats a compliment." There was a giggle from the doorway, causing Bill to divert his attention. He caught sight of the short blond girl standing there, and grinned. She grinned up at him , before running at him, and flopping on top of him. She giggled again as he grabbed her, and pulled her into a hug. "Hiya Butterfly!" he said, grinning at the young child in his arms. "It's nice to finally meet you!"

"Era ouy ohw ym yddad dlot em tuoba?" She asked, a grin appearing on her face as well. Bill smiled even wider,

"That's right kiddo." She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Dipper looked over at Mabel, who was staring at the scene in shock. He hit her with his elbow, causing her to look over at him, her shocked look still visible on her face.

 _What?_ She mouthed, staring intently at him. Dipper shrugged,

 _What did she say?_ He mouthed back. Mabel shrugged as well before turning back to the scene in front of them. She cleared her throat, drawing the everyone's attention.

"What the heck is going on here?" She called, looking from Bill to the little girl to Stan and finally settling her gaze upon Ford. "You were about to tell us something before that demon showed up," she said, gesturing at Bill as she spoke. Ford glanced over at Bill, who gave him a look, and sighed.

"I know I was about to tell you about this girl and everything else that happened, but I really think that it is better if you don't know. You will be safer that way." Bill scoffed as Ford finished speaking.

"Really Sixer? You think that they would be safer if they didn't know about little Butterfly here?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Stop kidding yourself Ford. Her just being in this house is putting everyone at risk." The girl sitting on Bill's lap looked over at Ford, her one visible eye wide.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I didn't mean to put everyone at risk, I just didn't want to stay alone in the other dimension." She looked back down at her hands folded in her lap. "I'll leave if I am doing that much harm in being here." Mabel took a step forward, a gentle look on her face.

"Hey. I know that you don't know who I am, and that I don't know who you are, but you're just a little kid. There's no way we're going to kick you out on to the street." Dipper put a hand on Mabel's arm, preventing her from going any closer. Mabel glanced back at him, shaking her arm out of his grasp. She took another step forwards, turning back to look as the girl as she did so.

"Thank you." The girl replied, smiling at the slowly approaching brunette. "You are taking a big risk here you know." She added.

"What do you mean?" Mabel asked.

"You don't know if I'm even human, but you still decided to trust me. So, I trust you too." She took a deep breath, glancing up at Bill, who smiled at her, before fixing her gaze back on to Mabel. "My name is Nova."

"Nova." Mabel said, trying out the name, before smiling. "Nice to meet you Nova, my name is Mabel." Nova giggled, holding her hand out.

"Nice to meet you too, Mabel." Mabel shook Nova's hand, before stepping back to stand next to her brother again. Stan, how had been unusually quiet, spoke up.

"Okay Ford. We have established that by just being here _Nova_ is bringing danger to this family." He stressed Nova's name as he spoke. "So, I think that we also should know what is so dangerous about her." Ford looked down at the floor, before taking a deep breath.

"Nova is" he hesitated, choosing his next word carefully, "special." He looked back up, meeting Stan's gaze. "She is not human, I'll tell you that, but that is all you need to know." Stan opened his mouth, as if to object, when Ford held up a hand. "I'm sorry Stanley, but that is all you need to know. She won't hurt you, you just need to know that there are some creatures that could come looking for her because she isn't human." Stan sighed, closing his mouth, and nodded. Ford turned his gaze to Mabel. "Thank you for putting your trust in her, even before you knew anything about her." He smiled down at his great-niece. "It means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about it Grunkle Ford." Mabel replied, smiling back at him. She looked over at Nova. "I get the feeling that I can trust her, even without knowing anything about her." Mabel walked over, stopping in front of Stan. "Come on Grunkle Stan, I want to finish breakfast." Stan sighed, before gesturing to Dipper.

"Come on kid, lets go. Remember, we still have a Shack to run today." Dipper nodded, following his great-uncle and twin out of the living room. As he left, he glanced back at Ford, who gave him a faint smile as he left the room.

oO0Oo

Mabel sat down at the table, picking up the spoon that still lay in her soggy cheerios. Dipper sat next to her, picking up the milk carton from where he had abandoned it when they had gone to find Ford. Stan handed him a plate with a piece of bread on it, before reaching into the fridge for a jar of jam. Taking the remaining seat at the table, he passed the jar to Dipper, who began spreading it on his bread.

"So, Grunkle Stan, what do you think about Nova?" Mabel asked, swallowing a spoonful of her breakfast. Stan sighed, accepting the jam back from Dipper, who had finished with it.

"I don't know what to think kiddo. All I know is that my brother is hiding something from us, and I have a feeling that it is something important." He glanced down the hall, where Ford had remained in the living room with Bill and Nova. "And it probably has something to do with that demon." Dipper took a bite of his toast, before turning to look at Stan.

"Does Great Uncle Ford know Bill?" He asked, "I mean, I had seen some pages on him in the journal, but I didn't know if they had every met face to face." Stan sighed, running a hand across his face.

"Kid, there is a lot of stuff you don't know about my brother."

 **Well, there you have it. There is some back story on Nova. I tried to give Mabel a bigger role in this chapter. She is one of my favorite characters and I hope I properly represented her.**

 **The final Gravity Falls episode made me sad and happy at the same time. Let me know how it made you feel. Please review and let me know what you think of my story.**


	3. A Revelation

**Hey guys, Kit here! I know that is has been a while, so you can thank my little sister for this update, as she keeps bugging me about it. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls, only Nova and the plot.**

 _"Does Great Uncle Ford know Bill?" He asked, "I mean, I had seen some pages on him in the journal, but I didn't know if they had every met face to face." Stan sighed, running a hand across his face._

 _"Kid, there is a lot of stuff you don't know about my brother."_

"Wait, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel called, as her great uncle stood up, moving to leave the room. "You can't just say that and leave." He turned back around, sighing when he saw that his great-niece was staring at him, eyes wide with curiosity. He sat back down at the table, hands clasped in front of him as he looked down at them.

"I don't know everything, but I have been able to piece some stuff together, with what I have read in Journal 1, as well as the way my brother acted when he asked me to go hide it." He locked eyes with Dipper, "There wasn't much in that Journal about Bill either, but from what there was, I can definitely say that my idiot brother has definitely met that demon before. There was a whole page about a ritual he found in a cave, one that would summon a demon and he had written at the bottom that it was a success." He looked back down, "So unless my brother has been dealing with some other geometrically shaped evil-doer, I would say that the ritual was definitely talking about Bill."

"But why would he try to summon a demon? That's like, the worst idea ever!" Mabel exclaimed, dropping her spoon into her cheerios in shock. As Stan opened his mouth to reply, a crash sounded in the other room. Laughter followed, as well as some undecipherable exclamations. Dipper and Mabel rushed into the living room, Stan trying to keep up with them. Bill remained in the chair, where he had been when they had last seen him, the only thing that was different about him was that he was laughing uncontrollably. The rest of the room was another story. The drapes were on fire and the television was smoking. Ford was leaning against the table in the corner, muttering in a language that was unrecognizable, hand covering half of his face. Nova stood in the middle of everything, a sheepish expression on her face, hair still covering the right side of her face. She glanced at Stan as he stood in the doorway, the sheepish expression on her face fading into a frown as she glimpsed the angry look on his face. She sighed, turning away, and ran to Bill, climbing up onto his lap and hiding her face in his shoulder.

"What. Happened?" Stan asked, voice strangely calm as he took in the wrecked interior of his living room. Ford looked up, hand dropping from his face, as he took a step forwards toward his brother.

"It was just an accident Stanley." He tried to explain, "Nova isn't used to this dimension. Magic works differently here." Stan looked at him strangely,

"Magic?" He asked, "This kid can do magic?"

"Yeah Stanley," Bill said, "She's not the only one." He snapped his fingers, returning the room to its original state. "Now stop freaking Butterfly out, she didn't do anything wrong." He smoothed her hair back and whispered something into her ear, causing her to laugh. She leaned back, a grin on her face, as she looked up at him.

"Did that really happen?" she asked quietly, amusement apparent in her voice,

"You bet Kiddo! When Fordsy was learning magic, he managed to burn this place down a couple dozen of times before he got the hang of it. Good thing that I am really good at fixing things!" He winked at her, sending her into a fit of giggles. Ford glanced over at them, shaking his head,

"I'm glad that I am able to provide you with so much amusement Nova. I didn't know that you found destruction of property so hilarious." Bill glanced over at him,

"That's cause she gets it from me, and you don't know everything about me Sixer!" There was silence for a moment before three voices exclaimed at once,

"What?!"

oO0Oo

A dark shadow stood on the edge of forest, looking in at the small group of people that could be seen through the window of the Mystery Shack. A soft wind blew around, sweeping the robes resting around the legs of the figure and shifting the hood back from their face ever so slightly, revealing piercing blue eyes and a fringe of dark brown hair. The man chuckled under his breath as he continued gazing towards the tourist trap in front of him,

"Soon little Butterfly, you will find yourself caught in the web of a Spider." And with that, and a flick of his cloak, the man disappeared, leaving only the leaves rustling in the gently blowing breeze.

 **Sorry that was so short, but I didn't want to reveal the last character until the next chapter. If you enjoyed, please leave a review or PM me with any questions. Thanks for reading!**


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